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A Cry Heard Round The World: Kim Sun-Il died desperate and alone, but he did not die unheard.
Looking At And Longing For Mars: Reflections on a childhood dream.
A Robot May Not Harm a Human Being. Is The Opposite True?: Thoughts on the future rights of artificial intelligence.
Long After The Boys Of Summer Have Gone: What makes a relationship work?
Winter Of Our Feline Discontent: What the cat wants, the cat gets. But what DOES it want?
To Tell The Truth: There may be no honor among thieves, but can't we find it even in a few good men and women?
Should The Human Brain Retire?: We know that we cannot win forever. We know that machines will continue to improve. So why don't we let the human brain retire gracefully now, with honors?
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Published: Sep 16, 2005 01:41 PM
Fri - December 26, 2003
I'm Dreaming Of A Light Christmas?
Scientists took a dim view of Atsumo
Ohmura's research. But then they started corroborating a phenomenon too
fantastic to believe and too frightening to ignore.
In
1985, a geography researcher at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology was
checking levels of sunlight recorded around Europe for research into atmospheric
radiation he when discovered data that puzzled and shocked him. It was too
dark. Compared to similar measurements recorded in the 1960s, his results
suggested that levels of solar radiation striking the Earth had declined more
than 10
percent:
- It turns out that [Atsumu] Ohmura was the first to document a dramatic effect that scientists are now calling "global dimming." Records show that over the past 50 years the average amount of sunlight reaching the ground has gone down by almost 3% a decade. It's too small an effect to see with the naked eye, but it has implications for everything from climate change to solar power and even the future sustainability of plant photosynthesis.
Will our great grandchildren be eating lunch in the dark? Will photosynthesis cease in our lifetimes? Will Pamela Anderson have to give up her tan? Can anything be done? Read the fascinating full story here.